Preparing for the unthinkable

Madison police officer Matt Magolan leads a tutorial on how to survive a mass shooting.

First of all, take a few deep breaths. Seriously.

When you suddenly hear gunfire, or explosions, or screaming, your physiology will be affected. Your heart rate and blood pressure will spike. You’ll probably start trembling. You may even freeze.

“These things are normal,” Matt Magolan assures. They are typical responses to a “critical incident” like a mass shooting. But fortunately, there are “stress response tools” you can deploy. Like autogenic breathing.

Inhale deeply through your nose. Hold it for several seconds. Expel the air forcefully through your mouth. Repeat. This will help you regain control, to save your own life and perhaps others.

It is a Thursday evening in August. Magolan, a Madison police officer, is in a large classroom at the Madison Police Training Center on Femrite Drive. There are about two dozen people present, including a few media reps. This is the first such tutorial offered to the general public, although Magolan and other officers have previously put it on for dozens of groups, including employees at shopping malls, hotels and, sigh, day care centers.

The training is called Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events. It’s based in part on a model adopted by the FBI. A former teacher, Magolan has been giving these presentations for about six years. The training, to be offered again on Nov. 10 or for groups on request, is for what he calls “the unthinkable.”

“We need to train for the realities of life, not what we wish the world to be,” he says in an interview. Magolan is proud that at least one person on the scene when shots were fired during a confrontation at East Towne last December had gone through his training and reportedly felt more “empowered,” less afraid. Another person who was there, a few feet from the shooter, is attending the tutorial tonight.

Magolan’s more than two-hour talk is part rundown of notorious mass shootings, part statistics on such events, and part what his audience clearly most wants to hear — advice on how to be, if not a hero, then at least a survivor.

“You can choose to not be a helpless victim,” Magolan advises.

How exactly?

First, know that there are three stages of disaster response: denial, deliberation, decisive action. The first is the most dangerous. How likely is it, really, that someone is setting off firecrackers in an office building?

Defend means to fight back. Part of it is mental. Turn your fear to anger. Know this is someone who wants to kill you. Commit yourself to not letting that happen. Go into “warrior mindset.”

Attack the shooter’s vision, wind and limbs. Don’t punch. Bring down your fist as though it were a hammer. Again and again. Try to gouge out his eyes or stab at them with a Sharpie. “Anything that can cause injury and dysfunction, you can use it.”

Grab the top of the shooter’s gun to keep it from rotating or recycling to discharge more bullets. Yes, this will burn your hand if the gun has been fired. But, Magolan says, “I’ll take a burn to the hand over a bullet to the brain any day of the week.” He shows an audience member onstage how to grab a semiautomatic pistol or assault rifle while still being able to pummel the possessor.

In response to the inevitable audience query about concealed carry, Magolan notes this is a legal right and that people who violate posted signs against carrying weapons face a mere trespassing fine. But he says simply taking a hunter safety course is not adequate training for a shootout. And he makes it pretty clear that if you’ve just killed the shooter and are holding a gun as police arrive, you’ll likely end up being added to the body count. Heads nod.

It’s a grim tutorial. But some audience members seem as though they can hardly wait. One man says if he hears shots, he’ll head in that direction. “I’m drawn to it, because I’m one of those guys.” He also says he may poop his pants.